Detox-Fit™

Tag: nutrition

Nowadays it’s common for people to be overly acidic. An overly acidic body is known as acidosis – at some point the body can’t function properly as it should and this can lead to many health issues, including depression, joint paint, heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

When the pH goes off, oxygen delivery to cells suffers, constructive enzymes become destructive, and microbial looking forms in the blood can mutate shape, mirror pathogenicity and grow.

Total healing of some chronic illness is indeed possible, and can take place when the blood is restored to an alkaline pH. This can be achieved by nurturing your body with the right food, something very important to those fighting a disease or overcoming an illness, but also to those who just want to feel better and be healthier both now and in the long run.

The most alkaline foods are whole plant foods, and the most acidic & inflammatory foods are all those coming from animal sources and others such as alcohol, refined grains, highly processed foods, sugar, sodas, and junk food.

The key is to eat focusing around naturally more alkaline foods like greens, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds (versus roasted), beans and legumes – yes, all the super-foods! These foods are packed with healthy phytonutrients, health boosting and protecting antioxidants & fiber. Herbs and spices are also more alkaline, anti-inflammatory and boost immune function just like whole foods do.

Once you get to balance you pH you will start to notice positive improvements such as:

less pain from inflammation related conditions such as arthritis.

easier fat loss.

better digestion in general.

increased energy levels.

better mental focus and better mood.

What about some of those healthy whole foods that are acidic by nature like lemons and oranges? Are they bad for us?

No, not at all, and here’s why: whole plant foods are always naturally more alkaline; they contribute to an alkaline body when a balanced, healthy plant-based diet is followed, so a certain plant being slightly less alkaline than another won’t affect your health as much as the acidic foods will. Furthermore, once these naturally “acidic” plant-based foods’ minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc) enter our bloodstream and mix with our blood they actually alkalize the body.

Many people have seen their health dramatically improved, and also diseases reversed after following a balanced plant-based nutrition.

If you haven’t seen it yet, do check out the outstanding documentary “Forks over Knives” to learn more.

People go plant-based for lots of reasons. These include reducing the risk of heart disease, losing weight, feeling more energetic, improving fitness performance, decreasing the number of pills they take, for ethical reasons… there are many great reasons!

For even more inspiration, check out Dr. Michelle McMacken’s latest fantastic piece, as published on Forks Over Knives, which goes through 7 benefits you can expect when you go plant-based:

1- You’ll reduce inflammation in your body:Eating meat, cheese and highly processed foods = elevated levels of inflammation in the body. While short-term inflammation (such as after an injury) is normal and necessary, inflammation that lasts for months or years is not. Chronic inflammation has been linked to the development of atherosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases, among other conditions. In contrast, plant-based diets are naturally anti-inflammatory as they are high in fiber, antioxidants & phytonutrients.

2- Your blood cholesterol levels will plummet: Elevated blood cholesterol = a key risk factor for heart disease and strokes. Saturated fat—primarily found in meat, poultry, cheese, and other animal products—is a major driver of our blood cholesterol levels When you go plant based blood cholesterol levels drop by up to 35% Whole-food, plant-based diets reduce blood cholesterol because they tend to be very low in saturated fat and they contain zero cholesterol. Moreover, plant-based diets are high in fiber, which further reduces blood cholesterol levels. Soy has also been shown to play a role in lowering cholesterol, for those who choose to include it.

3- You’ll give your microbiome (the trillions of microorganisms living in your body) a makeover:These microorganisms help us digest food, produce critical nutrients, train our immune system, turn genes on and off, keep our gut tissue healthy, and help protect us from cancer. Studies have also shown they play a role in obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and liver disease.

Plant foods help shape a healthy intestinal microbiome. The fiber in plant foods promotes the growth of “friendly” bacteria in our guts. On the other hand, fiber-poor diets (such as those that are high in dairy, eggs, and meat) can foster the growth of disease-promoting bacteria. Ittakes only a few days for our gut bacterial patterns to change – the benefits of a plant-based diet start quickly!

4- You’ll change how your genes work:The antioxidants & other nutrients in whole plant foods can change gene expression to optimize how our cells repair damaged DNA. We’ve even seen that a plant-based diet, along with other lifestyle changes, can lengthen our telomeres—the caps at the end of our chromosomes that help keep our DNA stable. This might mean that our cells and tissues age more slowly, since shortened telomeres are associated with aging and earlier death.

5- You’ll reduce chances of getting type 2 diabetes:Animal protein has been shown in study after study to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. In the Adventist population, omnivores have double the rate of diabetes compared with vegans, even accounting for differences in body weight. In fact, in this population, eating meat once a week or more over a 17-year period increased the risk of diabetes by 74%! Similarly, in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and Nurses Health Study, increasing red meat intake by more than just half a serving per day was associated with a 48% increased risk in diabetes over 4 years.

You will dramatically lessen your chances of getting type 2 diabetes by leaving animal products off of your plate and eating a diet based in whole plant foods. This is especially true if you eat whole grains, which are highly protective against type 2 diabetes. You read that right: carbs actually protect you from diabetes! Also, a plant-based diet can improve or even reverse your diabetes if you’ve already been diagnosed.

6- You’ll get the right amount -and the right type- of protein:Contrary to popular perception, this excess protein does not make us stronger or leaner. Excess protein is stored as fat or turned into waste, and animal protein is a major cause of weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, and cancer.

On the other hand, the protein found in whole plant foods protects us from many chronic diseases. There is no need to track protein intake or use protein supplements with plant-based diets; if you are meeting your daily calorie needs, you will get plenty of protein. The longest-lived people on Earth, those living in the “Blue Zones,” get about 10% of their calories from protein, compared with the US average of 15-20%.

7- You’ll make a huge impact on the health of our planet and its inhabitants:Animal agriculture is extremely destructive to the planet. It is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and is a leading cause of land and water use, deforestation, wildlife destruction, and species extinction. About 2,000 gallons of water are needed to produce just one pound of beef. Our oceans are rapidly becoming depleted of fish; by some estimates, oceans may be fishless by 2048. The current food system, based on meat and dairy production, also contributes to world hunger—the majority of crops grown worldwide go toward feeding livestock, not feeding people. Just the food that we put aside every year to fatten up animals to turn them into food products could feed about 11 billion people.

Equally important, animals raised for food are sentient beings who suffer, whether raised in industrial factory farms or in farms labelled “humane.” Eating a plant-based diet helps us lead a more compassionate life. After all, being healthy is not just about the food we eat; it’s also about our consciousness—our awareness of how our choices affect the planet and all of those with whom we share it.

Have you ever heard of “fecal soup”? Over 130 million chickens are killed every day worldwide to be turned into products. During processing the chicken corpses are disemboweled and later soaked in a chill tank before being packaged and sent to distributors.

A federal inspector said, “We often see birds going down the line with intestines still attached, which are full of fecal contamination. If there is no fecal contamination on the bird’s skin, however, we can do nothing to stop that bird from going down that line. It is more than reasonable to assume that once the bird gets into the chill tank, that contamination will enter the water and contaminate all of the other carcasses in the chiller. That’s why it’s called ‘fecal soup.’”

Tests carried out have shown that fecal bacteria tested positive and as present in nearly 50% of the samples. High cooking heat to cook the chickens’ flesh does not remove the feces – it merely cooks it along with the muscle tissue.

See below a list with the 5 worst contaminants in chicken products:

1. Feces: Chickens can soak in “fecal soup” for up to an hour before being packaged for consumers.

2. Toxic chemicals: Peracetic acid and chlorine are both commonly used to treat chicken for contaminants.

3. Superbugs: Nearly 75% of bacterially tainted chicken products harbour germs resistant to one or more types of antibiotics.

4. Carcinogens: Arsenic in chicken can increase the risk of lung and bladder cancer deaths.

5. Cholesterol: Both 4 ounces of cow and 4 ounces of chicken contain approximately 100 mg of cholesterol.

Funny how none of these are ever shown on the labels, right?

When it comes to fat, there is this persistent myth that says that chicken meat is low in fat, which in fact isn’t true as typical chicken servings are about 50% fat, 30% of it saturated, which stimulates the body’s production of cholesterol. Regarding nutritional value chicken has pretty much zero, no fiber and no antioxidants.

It should be compulsory for these nasty products to come in accurately and honestly labelled packages, to inform consumers that they are very likely eating feces and several other contaminants. And also showing pictures of what the animals go through before becoming a product, instead of showing deceiving fantasy cartoon images of happy smiling chickens dancing and saying “eat me, I’m cheap.”

Total healing of chronic illness can take place only when and if the blood is restored to an alkaline pH.

This can be easily achieved by nurturing your body with the right foods. And the best way to do this and improve your health is to eat from the earth, providing your body with the most healing, nutrient-dense and alkaline foods. This is important for everyone, and particularly to those who are fighting a disease, overcoming an illness, or to those who just want to feel better and be healthier now and in the long run.

Nowadays more and more people are becoming familiar with the concept of alkalinity. Like other herbivores, our human bodies thrive in an alkaline state, unlike carnivores.

The most alkaline foods are most plants. On the other hand, animal-based foods such as dairy, meat, eggs and fish are some of the most acidic and inflammatory foods that exist for us. Sadly, these are also the majority of foods that most people eat as part of their average Western Diet. This, consequently leads to an array of health problems. Other inflammatory foods are alcohol, sugar, refined grains, highly processed foods, junk foods, fast food and sodas.

When the pH goes off, oxygen delivery to cells suffers, enzymes that are constructive become destructive, and microbial looking forms in the blood can change shape, mutate, mirror pathogenicity and grow. Nowadays it’s common for people to be overly acidic. An overly acidic body is known as acidosis – at which some point the body can’t function properly as it should. Thus, this can lead to heart disease, diabetes, general joint pain, cancer, and even just depression.

The key is to reduce as many acidic foods in your diet as possible, emphasizing naturally more alkaline foods like greens, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds (versus roasted), beans, legumes, and most common superfoods out there. Herbs and spices are also more alkaline than acidic foods listed above, and many are actually anti-inflammatory and boost immune function just like whole foods do.

And what about those healthy whole foods that are naturally acidic? Are they bad for us? Absolutely not, here’s why: Plant-based foods are always naturally more alkaline than animal foods, specially when they come from whole foods instead of from processed foods. When a balanced and healthy plant-based diet is followed these also have and alkalizing effect in our body. It doesn’t matter than some plant-foods are a bit more alkaline than others – this won’t have a negative to your health as much as the acidic foods mentioned earlier will as, once these naturally acidic plant-based foods’ minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc) enter our bloodstream and mix with our blood, they alkalize the body.

Many people have seen their health dramatically improved, and also disease, including cancers, totally reversed after being put on balanced plant-based diet.

If you haven’t seen it yet, we strongly recommend you watch the outstanding documentary “Forks over Knives.” To learn more about alkalinity, the relation between consuming animal products and their detrimental effect in our health and what other foods to our bodies, also check out doctors and specialists such as Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Cadwell Esselstyn, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Garth Davies & Dr. William Castelli, director of the Framingham Heart Study.

You may have heard about a –extremely ridiculous- diet named the “Blood type diet”. It’s a diet that says that people should eat differently depending on whether their blood type is O, A, B, or AB. According to Peter J. D’Adamo, the deluded fella that created this nonsense, if you follow his diet you’ll be healthier, lose weight, have more energy, and even help prevent disease. And win the lotto too.

Here it is: this diet is nothing but a fad, a scam and utter nonsense, both from a biological & scientific and a common sense (we love using our common sense) perspective. Let’s see why:

ALL humans have the exact same digestive system. Like all cows share the exact same digestive system and lions also share an exact digestive system. Humans are naturally designed and built to thrive on a plant-based diet. There is nothing healthier than following a balanced 100% plant-based nutrition. This is a fact that has been confirmed a trillion times. NO human in this world has an inherent dietary requirement for eating meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Not us, not you, not our next-door neighbour, not the guy that works at Pete’s local grocery store and not your friend’s funny-looking brother. We can get all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals directly from plants, without the nasties that come when eating and filtering nutrients through animal sources.

Yet, according to this diet, depending on our blood type we should eat different stuff, including stuff that biologically we don’t need. Who cares that our digestive system is the same, that certain foods will *always* have a detrimental effect in our body, and that certain foods are not even nutritionally required by our species? Check out some of the nonsense: According to this diet most people are encouraged to consume dairy, when we know that this isn’t good for us, but the opposite. This diet basically states that most people were born to drink maternal milk from another species, yet some should have it low-fat. Also according to this diet some people should avoid eating chickens and instead eat lambs, while others should concentrate on eating cows and others were born to eat a heavy protein diet from animal sources, when we know that this isn’t 1) a dietary requirement for any of us and 2) detrimental to our health and the cause of many diseases. This diet does encourage everyone to eat vegetables and fruits… Surprise, surprise.

Humans have 4 blood types, dogs have 4 blood types, cats have 11 and cows have about 800. Does this “blood type” thing apply only to humans or to all other animals? Perhaps some cows should eat fish? And what about lions? Should some of them just eat courgettes and grapes? Perhaps some humans should make cheese out of maternal milk from hippos instead of from cows? And some cats perhaps should have an exclusive diet of bananas?

And what’s going on with all those vegans that don’t eat anything that comes from an animal while belonging to one of the blood types that “should” be eating meat like there’s no tomorrow? How is possible that they are so incredibly healthy? Even healthier than those with the same blood type that follow this diet? X-files?

When it comes to diets for many it’s something like religion; some people “need” to believe in them. Many people use diets like this one as an excuse and attempt of justification to eat what they shouldn’t or what their bodies don’t need naturally. People want to believe in “magic” diets. People want to be able to justify why they eat the -bad or unnecessary- things they eat.

The best advice we can give you about diets is this: NO. This applies to all sorts of diets. The diet mentality is never a good one to have, but sadly it’s everywhere these days. We don’t *need* to be on a “diet” to lose weight.

What the hell happened to just making healthy choices the majority of the time and working out? It’s as simple as this.

Why? Because they are a great source of calcium, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, disease-fighting phytochemicals, clean protein and highly alkaline. Your body needs them. Your body loves them and is craving for them.

Many other green powerhouses aren’t included in this image, like broccoli, peas, spirulina and bok choy.

Today, most people put some scattered greens here and there on their plate, mainly to make it look cuter or for decorative purposes. Because they look great and healthy. But that isn’t enough. You *must* eat them. And not just a few, but a lot of them. Greens are FOOD, SUPER-FOOD!

✔Great for your health

✔Great for healthy and glowing skin and hair
They are so good for you that you can eat as many of them as you like. The sky is the limit. As vegans you can imagine the huge amount of greens we eat.